Leaks in ships at sea



(No' Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 1.

. W. P. BEART.

' APPARATUS FOR STOPPING LEAKS IN SHIPS AT SEA.

No. 539,023. Patented May 14, 1895.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

W. F. BEART. APPARATUS FOR STOPPING LEAKS IN SHIPS AT SEA.

No 539,023. Patented May 14, 1895.

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W. F. BEART. APPARATUS FOB. STOPPING LEAKS IN SHIPS AT SEA.

(No Model.)

No. 539,023. Patented May 14, 1895.

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NrTED STATE PATENT OFFI E.

APPARATUS FOR STOPPING LEAKS IN SH'IP'S AT SEA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,023, dated May 14, 1895.

Application filed October 29, 189;- Serial No. 7, 58- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, WILLIAM FREDERICK BEART, gentleman, a subject'of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Godmanchester, in

the county of Huntingdon, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Stopping Leaks in Ships at tallic open work sheet to be first spread over the damaged part. This is best formed like a torpedo'net of interlaced rings of wire or metal. It offers no obstruction to the water and hence is got into position with compara- Second. A cover mat preferably of strong closely woven fabric such assail cloth which is sufficiently water tight and is strong enough to sustain the water pressure when supported bythe skeleton mat against which it is to be spread. Third. A flat footed rail like a railway rail is fixed on the outer side of the ship as high out of the water as convenient. Through the horizontal web of this rail holes are formed at short intervals for thepassage of ropes. Fourth. A carriage capable of running along therail from end to end of the ship. The carriage is provided with a brake and with a disengaging book. It serves to carry the skeleton mat and also a chain called the bow chain to the place where required for use.

The apparatus above referred to is provided in duplicate, one set for each side of the ship. Various ropes and other appliances are also provided as hereinafter mentioned.

The above mentioned apparatus is represented by the annexed drawings. These I will describe and afterward I will explain more fully the way in which the apparatus is in tended to be used.

' Figure 1 shows the skeleton mat. It may be made of various dimensions, but a width of fourteen feet and a depth of twenty feet will be suitable. It is stifiened at itstop and bottom edges by iron plates. The rings of which the mat is constructed maybe, say, three inches in diameter. There are eyes near the four corners of the mat, and these are connected by chains with rings a a, one at the top and one at the bottom, as shown. The

and ships side appear in section.

" skeleton mat has two hempen ropes b b, at-

tached near its upper corners.

Fig. 2 shows the cover mat of sail-cloth or an extra-strong woven fabric. It is somewhat larger than theskeleton mat in both dimensions. It has cords c 0 attached atits upper corners. The lower edge of the cover-mat is weighted with a chain d, made fast to it. It

serves to make it sink rapidly, and also serves as a core to roll the cover-mat upon.

Fig. 3 shows a plan of the rail fixed to the ships side, the latter being represented in section. The rail may be in short lengths, as shown. e e are openings for passing ropes.

Fig. 4 shows a front elevation, and Fig. 5 an end elevation, of the carriage. The rail Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating how the leak-stopping apparatus is applied to a ship.

f is a frame or casting provided with two wheels g, g, bearing on the top of the head of the rail and two other similar wheels 72, h, underneath the head of the rail; also the carriage has two horizontal wheels 2', i, which bear against the ships side and keep the carriage upright or parallel to it.

It is a large releasinghook on the outboard side of the carriage. On this hook thecarriage supports its load.

Z is a brake block jointed to the frame of the carriage and capable of being forced down on to the rail by a hand screw m.

The normal arrangement of this apparatus on shipboard is as follows: The skeleton mat is hung from the carriage, the mat being doubled and the two rings a, a, being on the releasing hook k. The mat is also further folded and secured by a lashing which can readily be out immediately there is any prospect of the apparatus being required for use. The hempen ropes from the upper corners of the skeleton mat are led up through the holes 6 in the rail and made fast to cleats inboard. There is a bow chain 0 which passes from one carriage to the other around the bow outside the ship. The bow chain is kept up out of the water by ties of rope yarn, 0' which temporarily hold it or it may be supported in any other convenient way. The ends of the bow chain are hooked or shackled on to the eyes w of the carriages. The cover mat is kept rolled up inany convenient place where it is accessible at a moments notice.

When the apparatus is required for use the bow chain is to be attached to the ring a connected with the lowerplate of the mat on that side of the vessel which has received damage and at the same time on the side of the ship which is remote from the damage. The releasing hook 7c is made to drop the mat which then remains supported by the ropes b 1). Both carriages can now proceed toward the leak, the bow chain having been dropped into the water.

Assuming that the skeleton mat can be brought by the carriage to the place required all that is necessary in placing'this mat is to make fast the top ropes b bso as to allow the length of drop required and then to open the ton mat is 'held closely to theshipsbottomr The skeleton mat having thus been placed and the bowchain hauled taut all is ready for spreading the cover mat. Thismat being light there islittle difiiculty in handling it.

The rollispassed overboard audit is fastened with cords so as to retain theupper edge in the position required. Then the cover mat is allowed to unroll (cont-rolledif" needed by'cortls attachedto theends of thechain-d) and as the roll descends it is held suificientlyclose to the skeleton mat by the cords which have;

been attached to the eyes'onthe lower plate of the net. application of thecover mat to the damaged part of the ships side andthe skeleton mat provides the necessary strength to sustain this pressure. The skeleton'mat'also presents a sufficiently even and continuous surface for spreading the cover mat, while the skeleton mat itself is spread with comparative ease in consequence of its givingfree-passage to the 1. In an apparatus for stopping leaks in All beingnow ready the bow chain is The water pressure insures the close I ships, a flexible, skeleton or reticulated mat adapted to be folded, and provided with devices for supporting it when folded and for securing it to the side of the vessel, and a water-tight, flexible mat adapted to be rolled or folded and provided with devices for securing it over the skeleton mat when the latter is placed over a leak.

2. Apparatusfor conveying and placing a collision mat, such apparatus consisting of a rail fixed to the side of the ship and a carriage with a disengaging hook, for releasing said mat and with wheels above and below therail, andj also'wlieels bearing against the ships side.

3. In an apparatus for stopping leaks in ships, the rails fixed to the ships side, the carriages carrying a collision mat andhavin g disengaging hooks forreleasing the sameand running on therailsythe bow chain and the collision mat held bythecarriagesto be carried by them tothe placewhere they are required for use.

4. In anapparatus for stoppingleaks in ships, the s upporting carriagead-apted' to be movedfrorn place to -place, along'the side of the'ship, a flexible,skeleton or reticulated rnetallic mat supported by' the carriage, adapted to be folded and provided with devices for securing its lower endto the carriage when folded, and a water-tight cover mat providedwithdevicesfor securing it over the skeleton mat when the latteris placed over a leak.

adapted to be suspended from the top of the vessel and provided with ropes at its lower end which, whendra'wn taut, hold it securely against the skeleton mat.

WILLIAM FREDERICK BEART.

Witnesses:

WILFRED GARPMAEL, T. F. BARNES. 

